Power and water constraints cast doubt on South Korea's Honam memory cluster, experts say

South Korea’s push to build a memory cluster in Honam underestimates the inflexible power and ultrapure water demands of sub-3nm nodes. With insufficient grid redundancy in North Jeolla Province, SK Hynix may be forced to construct on-site gas-fired plants, escalating carbon compliance costs. Upstream toolmakers like Lam Research could face redesigns of wet-process modules to accommodate local water quality, delaying ramp-up. Meanwhile, TSMC has already secured priority grid access across its U.S., Japan, and EU fabs. If Samsung’s expansion stalls, Micron could overtake it in the HBM4 race. Within 18 months, Seoul will likely pivot subsidies toward energy-efficient advanced packaging rather than replicating the Gyeonggi model—signaling a global shift from land-based incentives to resource-aware fab planning.